Brentwood’s only blemish? Traffic tie-ups

Traffic often backs up on Concord Road east of Edmondson Pike during morning rush hour.
(Photo:
File / The Tennessean
)

BRENTWOOD – Preliminary results from a residential survey show that those living in Brentwood have a high degree of satisfaction in the area but also a desire for the city to concentrate on traffic issues that come from growth and development.

The city last month got back 4,094 filled-out questionnaires or about 31 percent of the 13,000 surveys sent to Brentwood homes.

In many questions, traffic garnered the most interest. Far and away, residents marked traffic flow on major streets as the most important issue facing the city, with the types of growth and development and rate of growth and development following further behind. The answer was also the top response to what the city could do to achieve Brentwood’s preferred future. Traffic on major streets also exists at the bottom of satisfaction with city services.

To handle traffic, residents want the city to ensure that new development addresses traffic impacts, such as improving signal coordination, widening existing streets and planning future roads that could help ease snarls.

However, residents were happy with roadway aesthetics and traffic flow on neighborhood streets.

A majority of respondents in the survey wanted to keep residential uses out of commercial areas. There also was less support for mixed-use developments, smaller residential lots and condominiums.

In terms of city services, the quality of the Brentwood Library, location of city parks and amenities in the parks also ranked high in satisfaction.

Overall, 58 percent of respondents said they were “very satisfied” with the city’s quality of life, while 40 percent said they were “satisfied.” Only 2 percent was “dissatisfied” and less than 1 percent was “very dissatisfied.”

Survey administrator ETC Institute is preparing a full report and executive summary of the survey responses, which will be used to develop an update to the Brentwood 2020 Plan, a blueprint for the city’s growth. The update should be ready in the fall.